We recently connected with Angeline Fontaine and have shared our conversation below.

Angeline, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

What did my parents do right? Well honestly, everything. I’m always saying that I wouldn’t be the person or artist I am today without them.

I grew up in a creative household. Being that my father is a DJ and sound engineer, music was all around me. My mother was also a dancer and she has always been this driving force of positive and innovative energy. She is always doing new projects, planning events, and is an overall inventive person.

I am very thankful to have grown up with my loving family. My parents are always supportive of any journey I’ve ever taken. They push me to be my best self all the time and I couldn’t ask for more. They are honest, loving, and always there.

I have many stories but one that comes to my mind was when I was getting ready to sing for a competition.

Little Angeline was a firecracker, now I wasn’t the best singer at the time but my parents taught me to have the confidence to be myself on stage and just have fun no matter what.

As a little girl, I was never nervous to perform on stage, however, a few days before a performance I would always get sick. I am talking about a crazy cough, stuffy nose, all the works. The funniest part about it was that it wasn’t a regular cold. It was just these random symptoms that would come up in me always before a show. This led me to not be able to perform my fullest vocally on stage because my voice would sound raspy and just overall like I have a really bad cold. My parents would do everything in their power to help me out, whether it was drinking lots of tea or honey or simply getting rest, we would try everything but to no avail the end result was always the same.

One day before a singing competition they told me, “Right now, it does not matter how you sound but what you do with your performance. Just be yourself Angeline and you’ll do great.” I went on stage and the song I had to sing was “River Deep, Mountain High”. Now at that time, it was a hard song especially when I was sick. However, it was upbeat, fun and had great energy so I didn’t mind.

I went on stage with my parents’ words in my head, “be yourself”. Mind you, little Angeline was a crazy ball of fun energy and I never cared what people thought about me, I had no fear. So, being myself meant to perform without thinking about my insecurities which at the time was my voice. When the song started, I started singing my little heart out and dancing around the stage like no other. I found myself forgetting about everything and just having fun on this outdoor stage. By the end of the song hundreds of people in the audience were cheering so loud and I was in shock. My voice was off but I let go and the audience felt that energy. I left the stage, went back to my parents and saw them with smiles on their faces. Walking back into the crowd, plenty of people were complimenting them on my performance and giving me high-fives. I was stunned, in my head all I was thinking was that I didn’t sound my best (even though I was being a bit dramatic because overall it really wasn’t that bad) but everyone seemed to love it.

When they announced the awards, I knew I wasn’t going to get 1st place but the judges and host went out of their way to give me an honorable mention which was not planned for them.

This is such a small random occurrence but it wasn’t about the awards for me. Actually I was and still am not a person that is into competitions. It was simply just the memory of feeling lost and defeated but having that support system and feeling their positive energy is what stayed with me.

I am a bit of a perfectionist and I have always appreciated honesty (sometimes it might be brutal) but I’d rather take brutal honesty than keep doing something incorrectly. My parents tell me when I’ve done a great job and they tell me when I make mistakes. This is another big takeaway for me.

My parents were and still are hard on me but in the best way possible. In this field of work you find yourself doubting your abilities sometimes or losing confidence in yourself.

As I grew up, I started to lose that confidence in myself. Especially around the time I was in middle school. I felt more insecure and some of my friends I was around were not in the same mindset as me so when I had auditions, shows, and videos they didn’t show support. Instead I was made fun of.

Once again, my parents were right there to help me out. I am not saying they had a magic cure. It took a lot of time for me to regain the ability to be proud of what I do and who I am. But hearing their encouraging words, being there for me in all performances, helping out in my classes, talking me through tough times growing up and just overall seeing them at everything I did, little or big. I can’t imagine it any other way.

It wasn’t only for me either. They were always there for my friends who had the same passions as me. If I can put what my parents did right in a few words it would be….they were there. They are always there all the time and they never give up on me. Through my crazy ups and downs they have always been honest and helpful.

Not only them but my aunt, brothers, other family members, some friends, close family friends. I have an amazing support group and I am so thankful to have such an amazing family.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a performer. I mainly sing, I sing in genres such as Jazz, Pop, R&B, Classical. I specialize in performing at private events, public events and shows. I do hosting for events and I also act, working in musicals, commercials, shows and voiceovers. I am most proud of the fulfillment of putting a smile on people’s faces during a performance. My job as a performer is to brighten up the event and get people moving and on their feet. When I see that I’ve accomplished that, I am the happiest person. I really try my best to make my shows an experience. I want the audience to feel what the song represents and visualize that feeling. Music is another language and it has the power to let you remember some of your favorite memories. Like maybe a time when you were eating ice cream outside as a child, sitting next to the playground and someone was playing a song through their speaker. Now when you hear that song you can recall the taste of that ice cream and remember the environment you were sitting around. I strive to create happiness through my performances and I love to see the audience either dancing, sitting with a smile or just simply enjoying themselves. This same feeling and method I also think of when I act as well. What sets me apart from others is my personal touch to everything. I really try to dig deep and bring out what the client wants, provide that and more.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is being able to create another world either through a pencil or brush, with your voice, with an instrument or anything really. Just having the ability to express yourself and spread a feeling or message to others. Like I said before, when I sing, I feel as if I am painting the story through words or when I act and set up a scene, I have the ability to transport the audience to another time. These parts of the arts also help people, it can brighten someone’s day or help them through tough times. I also love to teach what I’ve learned so far to people around me so it’s also rewarding to share your skills with others and to watch and help them grow as well.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that I need to be able to do everything. I absolutely love being busy, when I see all the little dots on my calendar, I have the personality where it excites me to have so many activities. However, I needed to find a balance where sometimes it’s okay to take a break or a breather. My backstory to this question is simply life experiences. There was a time that I had so many things going on and I kept the train running, I didn’t stop and eventually my train started stopping on its own. My body physically felt exhausted and my creative energy was dropping. I didn’t feel like my positive self anymore and I just felt as if I was on autopilot. However, I didn’t stop until I was sick for a whole month and my body made me stop because I was losing my voice or I found myself feeling tired all the time. This is something that didn’t need to happen if I would’ve just given myself breaks or mental health days. You can do everything in the way that if you put your mind to it you can achieve your goals, however you don’t need to have the weight of the world on your shoulders. It’s okay to be a little selfish sometimes and just take a morning, day, afternoon, evening, weekend or however long you need to just breathe and enjoy life. I now find myself working more productively while still enjoying what I do ever since that time. I still have my busy schedule and I am thankful for it. But, now I’ve found balance within that schedule to allow myself to be booked and busy while still maintaining a healthy mindset.

Contact Info:

• Website: angelinefontaine.com
• Instagram: @angelinefontaine
• Facebook: Angeline Fontaine
• Youtube: Angeline Fontaine

Image Credits
Jackson Fontaine – Action Jackson Music Inc.